Week 3’s content was all about understanding contemplative documentaries. Due to all the content I consume on a daily basis, I have a very short attention span which is why I found learning about the strategies filmmakers use in slower films, and the reasons behind the choice for long shots interesting. I chose to experiment with this way of shooting in my home town of Williamstown.
Williamstown is full of beautiful scenery and endless lookouts to admire the bay’s waters. There is a plethora of marine life living in the bay, accompanied by the cranes, boats and cargo ships that continuously move through the port. I have been living here since I was born, and these ships have become part of the natural landscape.
I begun my video with shots of the revegetation processes happening in the area to show the want to protect and conserve the environment. As the video progresses, shots of boats and the industrial environment begin to take over the scenery, acting as a point of comparison. Like the boats, the revegetation is not natural and has been put there in attempt to cover up the environmental damage we cause.
A deeper issue can be found in this film regarding our need for these boats. The crates found on the boats provide the towns of the bay their food, clothes, furniture, and other desires.
I used audio to support this argument by using diegetic sound of birds which is then drowned out by the sound of a speed boat passing. Although boats were seen in the background of previous shots, it’s this audio that really brings them the forefront of the video. I then used silence and long shots of the environment to allow the audience to take in the images without external distractions.
Throughout the film, I also used panning shots to enable long takes showcasing the amount of space the industrial equipment takes up in the landscape. Although this movement limits the audiences ability to take in the shot, it allows them to understand the significance of the problem.
The final two shots show some local swans. The first shot is a close up of these beautiful swans, which is then followed by a long shot of the swans with big boats in the background, disturbing natures beauty. I chose this ending in attempt to summarise the video, and enable the viewer to see the direct impact we have on wildlife.
Shooting and editing longer shots together was a new experience for me. Looking back at the footage I captured and put together, my understanding and appreciation for slow films has grown significantly. However, when comparing my short film with the films discussed by Scott Macdonald (2012), including James Benning’s 13 Lakes (2004), there is a noticeable difference in the length and stillness of shots. Due to the windy conditions, majority of the shots taken ended up with some degree of shakiness to them which becomes a minor distraction to the viewer. With the help of better equipment (a proper tripod for example), next time I would focus on capturing stiller images, and limit panning shots to enable further connections with the individual images. In terms of the length of each shot, I would like to try increasing their duration to allow the audience to take in more of the scenery and further push the importance of this environment (Macdonald 2012).
REVEGETATION
REFERENCES
Macdonald, S (2012), “The ecocinema experience”, In Ecocinema Theory and Practice, Taylor and Francis, pp. 1-41
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